Brazil's Lula downplays need for big changes to economy

SAO PAULO, July 3 (Reuters) - Brazil's influential former
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday he was not
satisfied with the country's slow pace of economic growth, but
downplayed the need for major policy changes under his chosen
successor.

Lula, a leftist who governed between 2003 and 2010 and
retains enormous influence with President Dilma Rousseff, said
Brazil has suffered recently from the same slow growth plaguing
Europe and the United States, but has created jobs at a faster
pace.

Brazil's economy has grown only 2 percent a year since
Rousseff took office in 2011, and inflation is running above 6
percent. Investors have been closely monitoring both Rousseff
and Lula's speeches for signs she might adopt a more
market-friendly approach if she is re-elected in October.

"Obviously, our GDP (growth) isn't the GDP we'd like to
have," Lula told a small group of foreign reporters. "When
people think Brazil didn't grow much in these past four years,
the question I ask is, 'Who grew more than Brazil?'"

A reporter mentioned other countries in Latin America, such
as Peru and Chile. "They're few countries," Lula replied.

Lula, 68, then appeared to criticize opposition leaders and
Wall Street economists who say that whoever wins in October will
have to make a large cut in government spending or otherwise
reduce demand in order to restore economic balance.

"There's people out there who say that in order to bring
inflation down, we need a little (more) unemployment. We don't
think that way," he said.

Lula said Rousseff would rely on infrastructure concessions
and other measures, such as investment in science and
technology, to spur growth. He cited the investment plan for
state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, known
as Petrobras, as "an exceptional thing."
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